Garage band

Am I the only one that dream about using Garage Band not just as output but also as:
Effect: using the various keyboard or the guitar amplifier and effects
Input: using the various instruments of garage band or a real guitar plugged in?
... And am I the only one dreaming about the possibility of have Garage band simultaneously in two positions?

Why can't this be done?

There are some other app that I really would like to use both as input and effects, but Garage Band is quite the only one we really could take advantage of in all three positions!

I think for most members of this forum Garageband was/is one more $5 music app in a collection of music apps. For (total guess) 90% of GarageBand owners it is their only music app. If my guess is even close to true, it's understandable that they would concentrate on GarageBand as AB output and it would be pointless, generally, for it to be an input.

I mean, I'm 100% with you guys. It would be dreamy as an input. I just think we are a tiny tiny minority as compared to most GB users and probably deserve to be ignored by apple on this one.

Apple can't seriously think the iOS version of GB works as the final place for assembling compositions, otherwise they would allow more tracks and song sections. When I was really trying to do all my stuff in GB (before audiobus) I was always hitting a limit in the app. I love the smart instruments. If I could have it in the input slot I'd use it all the time. Virtual midi would make it a serious controller. As it stands the only reason I can see why apple added the bus is $$$ to increase sales of music apps in general.

@Simon - dunno, but they added some serious sounds to it, so it seems they were after a notch or two above it just being a fun app. I think @Mythmongrel has a good point on the intent to drive more music app sales. If that's the reason, I don't know if any further dev work, to add it to the other slots, will have a significant payoff for Apple.

It's not intended as the final place for assembling compositions, that would be Garageband/Logic OSX (hence the project export). It's purpose is more as a mobile sketchpad to begin songs which are polished and completed later on the Mac. For that purpose it works nicely, I still find it the fastest way to get a beat & melody down out of my head (for rock-type music).

I agree @busker as a singer songwriter GB is still the easiest app for me to set up chord changes and work out ideas. It was someone else that said Apple wants GB to be "the final place where you piece your music together." I was just saying they can't really believe that. My "real" DAW is Digital Performer, but I'm really enthralled with making music in the iOS demension. Still nothing iOS is got multiple time signatures or tempo changes, but a guy can dream.

@Mythmongrel Actually I recently discovered you can use lemur to obtain these changes from one interface. It's not easy but totally possible. Here's to hoping that Bm2, Cubasis, Auria all jump on board with tempo changes and make it easy.. I love to play metal and punk and without time changes it limits a lot of what I want to do.

Read all of yours and now I think ... Follow the money! If Apple record a "critical mass" of request they'll see also a profitable way to reach more customers and they'll develop this feature. Don't forget that there are plenty of forum full of request on GB such as a wind section or more thrack and so on. So I just can unite my mail request to 'em to those of yours ;-)

Michael and Sebastian early on made a point of how easy and quickly devs could put their apps into the input slot of Audiobus. I've seen apps created in a day (Oscillator) including Audiobus input slot capability. Output slot may be a little more involved, but Apple went to the trouble to add it. I believe its been a deliberate decision on their part to avoid external connectivity in this way just like they did with audio copy/paste. Apple GB devs probably spent more time at the water cooler on a given day than would have taken to hook up to Audiobus input. iPad for Apple is an entertainment device, not a production tool. One quick anecdote, when I bought my iPad there was a fellow at the store doing some kind of sociological survey about the ways people use touch devices. He had already spoken to about 200 people and was a little surprised when I told him my primary intended use was for music composition. He had to add a new category to his spreadsheet for that! We are just lucky to have this device that accidentally became a platform for music making. Look at 99 percent of the apps in the "music" section to see what its all about for Apple.

I am sure that Apple could easily add AB as an Input if they wanted, it seems to be a policy thing with them, rather than any technical difficulty with actually doing it. They added GB in the Output slot and that is supposed to be more difficult. I do hope they change their mind on this, it would add a lot to their reputation in delivering things that customers want, in addition to greatly adding functionality.

@smeeth: I think it's one way to look at the Apps that are available on the AppStore, but to conclude from that what it's all about for Apple themselves, is taking it a bit far, i think.
Also, in my opinion, the whole framework (coming from OSX, of course) for Audio on IOS Devices is so greatly done, with a lot of features, that aren't even mentioned anywhere (for example: similtaneous usage of Dock connector/lightning and analog TRRS for splitting input/output), that I personally don't believe the usage of these Devices as (semi-)professional Audio-Equipment is "by chance" and not very much intended.
Just my two cents, and I really don't mind Apple acting the way they do, as long as they deliver these astonishing products. (Sounds all very fanboyishly, but seriously: just ask any Android-user about, for example, real-time-audio possibilities for live shows etc. ...)
In short: I am first of all really happy with the possibilities I am given, I wouldn't have thought any of my nowadays workflow per touch-devices possible only two years ago... .
Friendly greetings, peace!,
animal

...the same stupid reason (for me) that you can't copy to pasteboard. You have to e-mail yourself as m4a, open in...etc. They really don't want you to leave GarageBand but it's easy to bring things inside. In my case they make me hating using it. But that's Apple like many things i still can't understand today. Give me my Top 5 Apps for Android...and i'm gone But it seems that will never happen...or?!?

@Galaxyexplorer - that's why I will always have android as my main cellphone. I can do waaay more, waaay easier with it than I can with an iPhone. Heck, most features you get from jailbreaking come stock on Android.

@JMSexton: So true, but when it comes to music production ios is lightyears ago. But Android could beat ios in this case very fast if once the right api's and apps are there. Give it another year or so! 4" inch screens are from yesterday too!

@animal - That's a good way of looking at it.
Apple has a history of making nice general-purpose devices that music programmers could exploit, to create midi sequencing, waveform editing and digital multi-tracking. Its taken the work of outside developers once again to make it possible for iOS music apps to communicate with each other, and everyone was kind of holding their breath for a while as to whether Apple would even allow that. So I really don't know what they're thinking, but they do like to keep tight control on their stuff. I still love em. But not Garageband...

Another way of looking at it is that if you want to use a particular AB effect, you can do this by using a third party instrument recording into GB, but not Apple's own GB instruments, thus excluding their own products! Which is kinda weird.